Shortly after dark on the 21st of August, Decarcerate DC again showed up at the DC Jail to hold a noise demo in solidarity with ALL the prisoners trapped inside. Demands are nothing less than the closure of DC Jail and every other jail and prison on the continent and the release of every last inmate. Prison abolition means exactly that.
All of this is in opposition to proposals to build a new (and no doubt
larger) DC Jail somewhere in the city. If this occurs, courts will
quickly order more arrestees held for less serious "offenses" thus
filling up the new cells as fast as they are opened. Real worst case:
courts fill up both the new AND the old jail, thus using the condition
of the existing jail as an excuse to more than double the number of
people they can hold. Prison crowding is like highway traffic: you
cannot build your way out of it due to induced demand.
The exact demands as has been made in a petition are these: "We demand no new jails, freedom for incarcerated people, and a new collective approach to safety that truly reduces violence and increases resources in our communities."